Whisk together dry ingredients Whisk together wet ingredients Combine wet with dry and whisk until well-blended – batter will be thick Use medium cookie scoop to portion into waffle maker (mine uses one scoop in each quadrant of a round waffle – see photo) and follow machine instructions

My sweet boys gave me a tea-themed bracelet for Mothers’ Day. They know what I like!

We all know how good for us wild-caught salmon is – and how expensive it can be!Thrive Market provides wholesome products at wholesale prices. Everything from food, household, personal care and even toys – at great savings! Shipped right to your door.

I’ve been a member since last February and shop regularly. When I’m low on something, I add it to my list, and when I get to $50+, place my order to get free shipping. I also browse the site for new stuff I might need – especially for Baby. Just got my most recent box yesterday!

Thanksgiving was pretty low-key this year at our house. It was just the four of us and the cats.

I did roast the annual Ferndale Farms pastured turkey, and there was pumpkin pie, of course. The exciting part was the addition of Otto’s cassava flour to the recipes. It made an awesome gravy thickener, as well as real pie crust and bread rolls. Thank you Paleo Mom and Zenbelly for the pie crust and dinner roll recipes!

So while the rest of the family played and watched the parade on TV, I was in the kitchen.
Most of the food was made the day before, as I only have one oven and it was needed for the turkey. For the fifth year, I used my trusty America’s Test Kitchen recipe for turkey and gravy, substituting Paleo-friendly ingredients. I can always count on them for perfection!

The Chef Alarm (by the makers of the Thermapen) is critical to perfectly roasted meat. The alarm goes off when the probe reaches desired temperature an attaches to the outside of the oven with magnets.

We had our first snowfall of the season after a mild, extended Fall.
So Alex finally got his wish, and gleefully played in it.
Bundled up Max, only to find he outgrew his snow boots before ever wearing them! Oy!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
Time to make notes for next year and start on Christmas celebration planning…

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This will be our 4th Paleo Thanksgiving… My, how time flies when you’re having fun.

Once again, we will roast a local pastured Ferndale Farms turkey and serve it with sweet

potatoes, veggies and something pumpkin or apple for dessert. Let the feasting begin!

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house for the first time in a few years, which meant NO TRAVEL (Yeah!) and we were not required to navigate a buffet avoiding sugars, grains, legumes, dairy and nightshades, resulting in a pile of dry turkey and small spoonful of squash.

That turkey fed the five of us for Thanksgiving and was so good it lasted (the 3 of us) only another 2 days, including a batch of turkey stock.

We used America’s Test Kitchen’s turkey roasting technique, which involves a 1/2 sheet pan and cooling rack, with mirepoix (carrots, celery and onions) and broth under the rack, and the turkey parts on top for roasting. Drippings and added bone broth reduced to make the gravy.

Finding pastured pork/bacon can be challenging – even here in (agricultural) Minnesota.
Once finding a source, the supply is NOT guaranteed either!

At a recent Farmers’ Market, I located a farm that produces pastured beef, pork, poultry and eggs (which happens to be near where I grew up in Central MN) and was so excited! The initial sampling of beef and eggs were outstanding, so you can imagine my disappointment when told they were out of bacon for the season. *sob* Oh, The Horror!

Pastured piggy fat is one of the few food sources with any appreciable amount of vitamin D, which we really need here in the Northland winters. So, after a moment to calm myself, I perused the menu and saw pork organ/back fat on the list. Did they still have some in stock? Yes, one package in the trailer. Score! Only I had to render it myself. Sure, I could buy a jar on Thrive Market, but it wouldn’t be local or as fresh.

How hard could it be? I took to the Paleosphere and read a few blog posts and decided to do it crockpot-style in my Instant Pot. [This appliance has been an incredible help in the kitchen as a pressure cooker, and I’ve used it for beef, poultry, root veggies and curcurbits with great success. As an aside, if you have little ones with hands that reach the stovetop like I do, it’s a huge help safety-wise as it can be kept on the counter out of reach and is insulated should it be touched.]

I cut up the slabs of back fat into cubes and set the Instant Pot to Slow Cook (vented, of course!)

Cuting Up the Slab of Back Fat

Into the Instant Pot

Set to Slow Cook with Vent Open

It took much longer than expected on the slow cooker setting, so I opened the pot and continued on the Meat/Stew setting, stirring occasionally. Once most of the fat was melted, I strained it, removed the pot from the base and finished rendering on the stovetop for better heat control. Apparently it is better to take the time to cut up the fat into really small pieces.

It’s getting there!

All told, I got 3x the amount of lard at 30% less cost than buying it finished.
And got a jar of tasty cracklings to boot!